That Smile

There are some people who just piss you off. Who can set off explosive expressions of irritation or evident manifestations of annoyance. These are the ones with the tics, the annoying habits, the irritating mannerisms, or even just a penetrating nasal accent of speech!

But then there are some people, who you meet, and they take your point of view, shake it up a little, free it of the cobwebs of emotional stalemate, of betrayal, deceit, lies, conformity, stagnation of thinking, and other strands that hold back the true inner nature of the human being.

For a human being is essentially made not only in the image of God, but with potential to almost match. Yet we never acheive that potential, never fulfil that level of maturity, that we can rise to.

We fail to appreciate smells, we forget the special meaning and feel of colors, we forget the value of the basest of gifts - the smile of a child, we deny the importance of things that we held dear before the drudgery of life sawed smooth the wonderful protusions on the plank of our pleasure-plane.

We lose our sense of wonder, of appreciation for anything not valuable to us. We lose in a sense, our humanity.

And one day, the very few lucky ones meet a special person, who will turn the dark brown leaves and bark of their life's tree, into something green, yellow, turquiose, pink, orange, blue, red, violet, fuchisa, indigo, maroon, crimson, purple...

Those very few of us meet someone who will turn the daily smell of vehicle-fumes, cigarette smoke and cheap liquor around us into tastes of fragnances of lily and peach and orange and chocolate and camphor and fresh rubber and crushed leaves and wet earth and good honest sweat...

When we meet such a person we leave behind the cliched tastes of sweet and sour and bitter and salt, and begin to appreciate the tang of pinapple on our tongue, the bite of chillies and pepper, the sublime melting of cotton candy in our mouths, the chewy substance of latex chewing gums without artificial flavors.

We rise out of our daily rituals of handshakes and perfunctionary hugs, and learn to value the nuances of touching a person's skin. How the temperature and humidity of a person's palm can tell us more about his/her mental state than his grip ever can. How a hug can give insights into what a person is feeling at any given moment. How eye conact can betray what is going on behind those windows to the world.

I have met such a person. A person who defines the world around her, and by association and choice and caring, my world around me as well. It is a cascade of emotions around me everytime I talk to her, feel her hands on mine, or even when I simply see her.

And her smile, oh her smile, makes me so glad I have eyes. I can look at her smile and see a million different shades of what is going on in her head.

Her eyes are bright, as they know what to look for. She knows exactly what she wants, and she knows exactly who she is. She knows exactly who she wants, and she knows exactly who wants her.

A woman they say, is the catalyst to a man's development. Well, I think I've just been handed the mother-lode. Thank you God, thank you so much I cannot say in this meagre vocabulary I possess.

And so another week ends, full of joy, anticipation, healthy nerves, love and love returned. A simple life, a content consciousness, a quiet conscience.

And above all, a beautiful smile. Oh yes, what a smile....